Tea at Trianon: A Peasant’s Life in Medieval England

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, February 2, 2024

A Peasant’s Life in Medieval England

From The Collector:

Peasants in England were divided into two main classes: Freemen and Serfs. Serfs were bound to labor for the lord (usually three days a week), while freemen had more freedom in the labor they chose to perform. Instead of paying their way through labor, freemen paid rent in taxes. The differences and the rules governing each were complex, and issues were often taken to the courts. Rules also changed according to different regions. There was much mobility between the two groups, as they lived among each other, intermarried, and bore children together. Inheritance of status could be a tricky thing to determine. In some situations, it was a matter of pragmatism for freemen to take up the role of serf. They might receive a better plot of land, with more opportunities, and escape the taxes. While for serfs, there was an opportunity for upward mobility too. (Read more.)